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  • I am very new to the world of touch screens, but I happened to have just purchased an HP Spectre x360 (which is the kind of laptop whose hinge flips 360 degrees and turns into a taplet). Sounds like a similar design to yours. I suspect the touchscreen itself will work just fine - you'll be able to touch the screen and those taps will be recognized as clicks of the mouse. For me, I can also press and hold for right-click and (depending on the application) pinch to zoom (Chrome supports pinch to zoom very well). However, you will not get the automatic screen rotation feature (making the LCD go upside down when you flip the hinge) or automatic disabling of the keyboard. That makes it very difficult to use in tablet mode. Thankfully for me, it doesn't bother me in the least because I don't really like tablet mode very often. There are workarounds to get help with these problems, which I can elaborate on later if you feel they would help.
  • David...I went to PropWare on your file system and selected "downloads". I then selected "package file" on the first Linux(x86-64) - Debian/Ubuntu/etc. I received an error message stating in essence that this error should not have happened click "report".

    Why is this so hard?

    Discovery
  • Discovery wrote: »
    Why is this so hard?

    1) I don't like Windows and only begrudgingly support it because everyone else refuses to see the light :)
    2) My build server unexpectedly went down and, being a one-man team that only does this on the side, I don't have many enterprise resources like a monitoring system to tell me when that happens. So, thank you for reporting this. I'm looking into it now and will let you know as soon as it's up again... which will hopefully be momentarily, but I haven't seen this issue before so I don't have any idea what is going on.

  • Okay, I've identified the problem with my build server, but unfortunately it is going to require help from my hosting provider to restore a backup. I missed something when the server was migrated over the weekend (the database connection had a hardcoded IP address, and that IP was still pointing to the old server).

    In the meantime, I've grabbed a copy of the installation package and made it available for you to download outside of TeamCity: http://david.zemon.name/downloads/propware_3.0.0.131-1_amd64.deb
    That should get you going.
  • Well done David.

    I will be out of the laboratory for the next two days or so.

    Discovery
  • Okay, server is up and running again. The links on the download page all work again.
  • David...I continue to have trouble getting your PropWare program to run on my new machine. The PropWare files downloaded but there are no .exe files. I don'e see Linux on the machine. When I run the SimpleIDE I get an error code stating that PropWare has no files in the directory.

    I am confused.

    I thought that Linux is an alternate operating system with Windows but it appears that Linux is somehow inserted into Windows!

    Silly question...Can the guys at Staples remove Windows and install Linux so that your PropWare will run correctly?

    Discovery

  • Discovery wrote: »
    David...I continue to have trouble getting your PropWare program to run on my new machine. The PropWare files downloaded but there are no .exe files. I don'e see Linux on the machine. When I run the SimpleIDE I get an error code stating that PropWare has no files in the directory.

    I am confused.

    I thought that Linux is an alternate operating system with Windows but it appears that Linux is somehow inserted into Windows!

    I'm definitely confused too. Your original thought was correct - it is an alternative operating system than can either replace or run side-by-side (selecting which one you want at boot-up of the computer, and then using that OS until you reboot). With the two exceptions being a virtual machine and the Windows Subsystem for Linux (and new Windows 10 feature, and definitely not what I meant when I said to install Linux), Linux does not run inside Windows.
    Discovery wrote: »
    Silly question...Can the guys at Staples remove Windows and install Linux so that your PropWare will run correctly?

    Discovery

    While wearing their Staples uniforms, almost certainly not. However, that would be the right place to find some Linux hobbyist like myself, and that person may be capable. But I doubt Staples offers it as a service.
  • So...when I start the new windows 10 machine, I am not given the option as to which operating system I want. It comes up windows 10.

    So...how do I proceed? Somehow I must get the Linux operating system loaded and operating. Then how does SimpleIDE, PropWare, and Linux get invoked?

    Right now your program is a project under SimpleIDE. Should it be there or somewhere else?
    Discovery
  • MikeDYurMikeDYur Posts: 2,176
    edited 2017-03-22 19:45
    Discovery wrote: »
    So...when I start the new windows 10 machine, I am not given the option as to which operating system I want. It comes up windows 10.


    You have to download an iso image of the Linux OS you need, 32 or 64 bit. Having Win10 I would think it would be 64 bit. Unzip the package onto your desktop, which will be one file with an .iso extension. Load that file into a CD/DVD burner program, and burn the image to a blank DVD.

    You will have to restart your computer and press whatever key is needed to enter your BIOS (esc). Once there find the section "Boot Device", and change your first boot device to CD/DVD drive, save and exit.

    Now you should be booting from your DVD. Follow on screen instructions, and you will start and run Linux without having to actually install it to your hard drive. You can look around awhile, or you can use the shortcut on your desktop to do a full install.

    The options on a full install will let you keep your Windows OS, and create are partition for Linux. Be sure to go back into BIOS and change your first boot device back to hard disk and save. After that when you start your computer you will see a menu giving you a choice of what OS you want to start.


    I hope I covered everything.

    There are better step by step instructions where you download Linux.
  • Hi Mike...The requirements that David and I are working to are that the Linux and PropWare will reside on my new Dell Inspiron 11 3000 series laptop not on my desktop which will be clear of Linux.

    So...knowing that, what changes to your procedure can be made to put Linux on my new laptop hard drive?

    Where do you recommend I get the Linux OS download?

    Discovery
  • MikeDYurMikeDYur Posts: 2,176
    edited 2017-03-22 21:30
    Hi Discovery, The only link I have is for the cinnamon desktop. And you have more guts than I do, installing a second OS on a new laptop. Shouldn't be a problem, except for maybe voiding your warranty. Recommend browsing the Linux sites, anything you want to know about Linux is there.

    Mike Y.

    https://www.linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=217

    Forums:

    https://forums.linuxmint.com/index.php?sid=54ec795ae8f291a2d9aaef9eb5ccc0c9
  • Linux Mint is also Debian based, so there's nothing wrong with choosing that one. There are lots of debian "derivatives" and they'll all work equally well with PropWare. I Personally use Ubuntu - follow the information here for creating a bootable USB stick: https://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop/create-a-usb-stick-on-windows (follow those directions from any computer, it doesn't have to be the laptop). While the USB stick is being created (or if you don't like to multi-task, you can wait til its done), you'll need to get the laptop ready. Here's some instructions written specifically for your laptop: http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/laptop/f/3518/p/19591163/20654798#20654798 This will make the laptop capable of booting from USB and capable of booting the new Linux OS once installed.

    Once both the USB drive is created, and BIOS has been fixed on the laptop, you're ready to install. Turn off the laptop, plug in the USB drive, turn the laptop on. It might boot the USB drive right away, but it might also go into Windows. If it goes into Windows, reboot again. As it's turning back on hit the various keys on the keyboard. F8 is a good choice. Delete is another good one. Maybe escape. Try F8 first... that's a very common key for bring up boot priority. Hopefully it will bring up a menu that lists various bootable devices - use the arrow keys to select one that looks like it might be your USB drive and then hit enter. If F8 doesn't work (you'll know it didn't work because you'll find yourself in Windows again) try the other keys.

    If you run into problems booting from the USB drive, check this too.

    Once you're able to boot from the USB drive, you should see a text-based menu giving you a few different choices. Again, use your arrow keys and the enter key to select something along the lines of "install now"... I don't remember the exact wording. You can use the "Try Ubuntu" menu option if you want, just to verify all is working well too. Once the installer is started, you should hopefully be able to just follow the on-screen instructions. Early on in the process, it will ask if you want to install side-by-side, erase, or something else. Since you bought this for the sole purpose of using PropWare, just go with "erase everything." The rest is hopefully self-explanatory, but feel free to post questions back here if you have any and we'll try to help you out as best we can.
  • msrobotsmsrobots Posts: 3,701
    edited 2017-03-23 01:22
    This is so sad.

    The basic Idea was to build a multi-Os Software so Linux User have it more easy to Program the Propeller.

    Now we are on a point where the Linux Gurus tell people to kill Windows10 just to run Simple Ide with PropWare.

    Because David "don't like Windows" @Dicovery should reformat his new Laptop With Linux?

    Really?

    Does anyone here know about the Linux Subsystem in Window?

    If needed you can run Linux Software on Windows without installing VM or double-boot or reformatting and install Linux instead of windows.

    But NO our local Linux preachers state - DO KILL YOUR WINDOWS.

    WTF.

    It is sad enough that Parallax does not update SimpleIDE to the newest GCC but now the active - and truly false - advice is to use Linux not Windows?

    Even @Heater runs Win10 and uses Linux Stuff on his Surface Pro and David wants to tell people to kill windows, because he has no clue about what Windows is doing?

    Really?

    Slowly I am getting MAD with them religious, Linux preachers thinking that EVERYBODY HAS TO use Linux because they do not like Microsoft.

    What is wrong with you Guys?

    Mike
  • The trouble with installing Linux dual-boot on a Windows machine is that rarely if ever do I boot into Windows. When I first "tried" Linux I would want to use all the programs I was familiar with which happened to be in Windows. After a while I thought this is no good, it's one or the other. So I committed to Linux and found that there were only a couple of special programs that I needed Windows for, so I installed Windows on VirtualBox and have been able to use this "image" of Windows ever since on all my machines without ever having to reinstall Windows again. The virtual Windows runs on Linux and works just the same as if I booted into Windows. I mainly use it for my old Protel99SE and Digiview logic analyzer.

    In the beginning I tried practically every flavor of Linux there was and accumulated a one foot tower of Linux CDs but in the end I settled for Linux Mint and although it is based on Ubuntu it includes 3rd party codecs and the Cinnamon desktop which I find far more usable than the much detested Unity interface that Ubuntu went to partly in a effort to tackle the tablet/smartphone market at the time. Now Ubuntu PC users are stuck with this interface (IMO). So every computer of mine runs Linux Mint and only one computer can boot into Windows although it never does since I use this one for my media computer on the big screen.

    Now the big thing is Propeller development on Linux and this is where I still use BST which just requires the addition of some 32-bit libraries to function. PropellerIDE works as well as does all the other Propeller tools written for Linux plus I find that all the chip companies seem to support Linux these days as I have MPLAB and Quartus both of which are native Linux apps which work very well indeed on Linux.

    Like David, I just wonder when people will realize that they don't need Windows at all and there are much better and very well supported alternatives these days. I can even plug a new printer in and now Linux recognizes and installs the drivers automatically. How it has come of age!

    Btw, my wife "needs" Windows just for Photoshop and associated products but it is proving to be far too buggy and slow in Windows even on an i7 and 16GB of RAM so she is seriously thinking of migrating to Mac. The funny thing is there is no real reason all this software couldn't run on Linux either, heck, Linux could be bundled with Photoshop during the "install" but then Apple would have a fit since nobody would buy their extremely overpriced hardware anymore.
  • Yes, Peter,

    you found out that for your personal needs Linux fits the bill.

    But you are not running around and telling people that they HAVE to use Linux and are not ALLOWED to use Windows, even if the wish and it fits their bill.

    That is a major difference.

    And that is what I am getting pissed about.

    Mike
  • msrobots wrote: »
    This is so sad.

    The basic Idea was to build a multi-Os Software so Linux User have it more easy to Program the Propeller.

    Now we are on a point where the Linux Gurus tell people to kill Windows10 just to run Simple Ide with PropWare.

    Because David "don't like Windows" @Dicovery should reformat his new Laptop With Linux?

    Really?

    Does anyone here know about the Linux Subsystem in Window?

    If needed you can run Linux Software on Windows without installing VM or double-boot or reformatting and install Linux instead of windows.

    But NO our local Linux preachers state - DO KILL YOUR WINDOWS.

    WTF.

    It is sad enough that Parallax does not update SimpleIDE to the newest GCC but now the active - and truly false - advice is to use Linux not Windows?

    Even @Heater runs Win10 and uses Linux Stuff on his Surface Pro and David wants to tell people to kill windows, because he has no clue about what Windows is doing?

    Really?

    Slowly I am getting MAD with them religious, Linux preachers thinking that EVERYBODY HAS TO use Linux because they do not like Microsoft.

    What is wrong with your Guys?

    Mike

    I 100% understand your reaction here. I do. But understand the context please (I don't recall if it's all in this thread or not, so I'll repeat it now).

    1) He wants to write some code, and I showed him one way to do it that requires PropWare
    2) Upon reading the instructions for getting PropWare working in SimpleIDE, he decided of his own accord, to purchase a new laptop (and based on the model, it looks like it was around $150-$300... so at least it was cheap).
    3) We were both unable to get PropWare working in SimpleIDE, and only in certain case have I been able to get it working on the command line in Windows. WSL does not provide access to the serial ports, so short of having two terminal windows open (one to compile, a second to load the binary), WSL doesn't get us anywhere. Yes, I despise Windows.
    4) I admitted partial defeat, and opened a bug with Parallax in GitHub in the hopes that it might a solution might be found in the future.
    5) Knowing that a laptop was purchased with the sole purpose of developing PropWare-based applications, and that I was unable to offer any support in getting it working, I mentioned that it would be possible to run Linux on it.
    6) The current ordeal of getting Linux installed began...

    So, to respond to your only two points:

    "linux gurus tell people to kill windows 10"
    No, I never told him to do it. I told him it should be possible, and would probably work. I never encouraged him to do it. I do hope nothing I said was mistaken by him (or anyone else) for "I think you should..."

    "Does anyone know about WSL?"
    Yes, I mentioned it in an earlier post, and why it won't suffice.

    The rest of your post is you saying the same thing over and over... no, I am not telling people to delete Windows. I am simply a one-man team, doing this on the side, offering the only support I can. Until I can get PropWare working on Windows, I will tell people that it is unsupported on Windows. If they then choose to install Linux to get PropWare working... well... I'm actually darned impressed that they think PropWare is so worthy! Who am I to complain?
  • msrobots wrote: »
    Yes, Peter,

    you found out that for your personal needs Linux fits the bill.

    But you are not running around and telling people that they HAVE to use Linux and are not ALLOWED to use Windows, even if the wish and it fits their bill.

    That is a major difference.

    And that is what I am getting pissed about.

    Mike

    It's not meant to be personal, I used Windows since 3.0 (yeah, that one) but I don't have to tell people that they HAVE to use Linux or are not ALLOWED to use Windows although I have spent faR too many hundreds and hundreds of hours fixing their Windows problems. I just tell them there is an alternative that I can vouch for.
  • Dave HeinDave Hein Posts: 6,347
    edited 2017-03-23 01:54
    I thought the original goal was to write to an SD card, and the dump the contents as fast as possible. This thread seems to be taking a very complicated route to performing a simple task.

    EDIT: The simple approach would be to write this in Spin using the FSRW driver. The SD driver used by FSRW reads ahead by one sector and buffers it into memory. So it is fairly fast in reading an SD file. Once the code works under Spin it can then be converted to C using spin2cpp. Everything can be done though the command line, or if you prefer you can use the current version of SimpleIDE that can be downloaded from the Parallax site.
  • Thanks, Dave.

    FSRW even does write-behind, and buffering the sector to be written in COG Ram, so it is also very fast writing.

    As far as I know the currently fastest implementation of reading and writing SD cards.

    Enjoy!

    Mike
  • Peter JakackiPeter Jakacki Posts: 10,193
    edited 2017-03-23 03:03
    I did write a little nibbler ROM that gets loaded into its own cog for Tachyon since the Tachyon SD read speed is over 600kB/sec it is more than suitable. But the OP wants to do this in C as far as I can tell.

    No special PC tools required.
  • jmgjmg Posts: 15,140
    edited 2017-03-23 04:19
    DavidZemon wrote: »
    ...3) We were both unable to get PropWare working in SimpleIDE, and only in certain case have I been able to get it working on the command line in Windows. WSL does not provide access to the serial ports, so short of having two terminal windows open (one to compile, a second to load the binary), WSL doesn't get us anywhere. Yes, I despise Windows.
    4) I admitted partial defeat, and opened a bug with Parallax in GitHub in the hopes that it might a solution might be found in the future.

    Maybe this needs a separate thread, so Parallax can focus on it ?
    I quickly tried a download and connect of just SimpleIDE in Win10, with mixed results.

    Install goes fine, and compiles are ok, but connect seems erratic, and the SimpleIDE docs are vague and disconnected, and error messages terse.

    It fails to tell you what is is actually trying to do, and when it fails, spits only :
    ERROR: Download failed: -1

    There are settings for handshake and delays, but as best I can tell those are ignored.
    (No parameters change).
    Once when I flipped DTR to RTS that seemed to connect, but I suspect that was a fluke/coincidence.

    One board here seems more reliable to connect than the other, tho I have seen both connect at some time,
    but I'm unable to predict the magic combination to get any yield on outcomes.
    If I do Terminal Loopback tests, those seem 100% predictable, so the hardware COM links look ok.
    (of course a new user does not have that easily available, so they are working more blind than I am)

    One feels they were scared to provide information, lest they scare users, but lobotomize something too much, and it becomes impossible to fault find.

  • Simple question:

    If two command windows are required, and it always works, why not just do that to proceed?

    Up arrow, enter doesn't seem very onerous, given what has transpired.
  • jmg wrote: »
    DavidZemon wrote: »
    ...3) We were both unable to get PropWare working in SimpleIDE, and only in certain case have I been able to get it working on the command line in Windows. WSL does not provide access to the serial ports, so short of having two terminal windows open (one to compile, a second to load the binary), WSL doesn't get us anywhere. Yes, I despise Windows.
    4) I admitted partial defeat, and opened a bug with Parallax in GitHub in the hopes that it might a solution might be found in the future.

    Maybe this needs a separate thread, so Parallax can focus on it ?

    Agreed (sort of). That "thread" is here. I know you were referring to a forum thread... it would be more public and therefore draw out a response faster... but I would bet they've already read the bug report and my comment in it. My guess is they're simply short on time. Not enough man power to deal with everything on their plates.
    potatohead wrote: »
    Simple question:

    If two command windows are required, and it always works, why not just do that to proceed?

    Up arrow, enter doesn't seem very onerous, given what has transpired.

    I don't know that it always works. It's a theory. A pretty sound theory - but a just a theory at the moment. I've never actually tried it. I consider even that to be more work than it's worth for anyone to use PropWare, so I never bothered writing up instructions for it. I surely never considered someone would say "PropWare is the only solution, so much so that I need to go buy a dedicated laptop just for PropWare development."

    I do agree that using Spin2cpp on FSRW (or just learning Spin) would be a much more sane route to go for this project. Or any of the other perfectly reasonable alternatives suggested earlier in this thread, revolving around various compression techniques and entirely negating the need for 250 kB/s SD card reads. But if someone asks a direct question about PropWare or Linux, I'll happily answer it.
  • Copying and pasting the simple code from this page:

    http://learn.parallax.com/tutorials/language/propeller-c/propeller-c-simple-devices/sd-card-data

    I get ~256,000 bytes / sec, reading 512 bytes at a time, in CMM mode.

    I'm guessing that this does all the file system overhead and buffering, because it takes about the same amount of time to read smaller blocks of data.

    The Simple libraries are publicly available source, and certainly work in SimpleIDE. You could also just use FSRW as Spin, write the C interface for it, and be done with it.

    You could also just look at the PropWare source, pull the bits you need, if possible, and compile it as part of SimpleIDE. I'm guessing that David hasn't made that easy, but it is just code.

    "Hmmm.. this doesn't compile... maybe I'll buy a laptop and install Unix" doesn't strike me as a sane approach.
    read took 159712 cycles
    First 512 chars in letters.svg:
    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"?>
    ....
    
  • jmg wrote: »
    Maybe this needs a separate thread, so Parallax can focus on it ?
    I quickly tried a download and connect of just SimpleIDE in Win10, with mixed results.

    Install goes fine, and compiles are ok, but connect seems erratic, and the SimpleIDE docs are vague and disconnected, and error messages terse.

    It fails to tell you what is is actually trying to do, and when it fails, spits only :
    ERROR: Download failed: -1

    There are settings for handshake and delays, but as best I can tell those are ignored.
    (No parameters change).
    Once when I flipped DTR to RTS that seemed to connect, but I suspect that was a fluke/coincidence.

    I don't have Win10 so I'm not sure if this is the case, however the latest SimpleIDE introduced a fast loader that attempts to set the serial port speed to 920k or so, maybe Win10 has some quirks that makes that speed unreliable. Try to use the old propeller-load program (it should be still available as a command line, no way to use it from SimpleIDE) or change the board configuration to use a lower speed. The relevant entries are these:
    baudrate: 115200
    loader-baud-rate: 115200
    fast-loader-baud-rate: 115200
    

    Open the board configuration file from the parallax/propeller-load folder (for example activityboard.cfg) and edit/add the above lines.

    Hope this helps.
  • jmgjmg Posts: 15,140
    macca wrote: »
    I don't have Win10 so I'm not sure if this is the case, however the latest SimpleIDE introduced a fast loader that attempts to set the serial port speed to 920k or so, maybe Win10 has some quirks that makes that speed unreliable.
    I'm guessing I have the latest - Help about says 1.1.0 and c 2012-2017, and PDF is Jan 2017
    However, .bin files look to mostly be from 2014
    macca wrote: »
    Try to use the old propeller-load program (it should be still available as a command line, no way to use it from SimpleIDE) or change the board configuration to use a lower speed. The relevant entries are these:
    baudrate: 115200
    loader-baud-rate: 115200
    fast-loader-baud-rate: 115200
    

    Open the board configuration file from the parallax/propeller-load folder (for example activityboard.cfg) and edit/add the above lines.

    My .cfg files have only a single baud line ? - so it does not seem to be that ?
    # quickstart.cfg
        clkfreq: 80000000
        clkmode: XTAL1+PLL16X
        baudrate: 115200
        rxpin: 31
        txpin: 30
    

    There are no fields in .CFG for Delay and RST line, but there is under Tools.Properties.
    However, there is no way of seeing what the IDE actually used ?!
    No report lines, and no visible changes to command lines

    If I change board to RCFAST, thinking that makes fewest assumptions, that gives a brief flash on TX and RX LED, so it seems some reply was given, but the error messages are very terse.

    Really, Proploader should report what is it actually doing, ie Baud Rate applied, COM port opened, handshake lines and delays, and byte counts on first handshakes.
  • jmg wrote: »
    My .cfg files have only a single baud line ? - so it does not seem to be that ?

    Add the lines, if missing. Baudrate is what the terminal will use after a successfull upload. Default values are 920k or so.
    jmg wrote: »
    However, there is no way of seeing what the IDE actually used ?!

    Open the project manager clicking on the icon at the bottom-left of the window, there you can see the board configuration. Additionally, the build status window (click on the icon in the middle of the status bar at the bottom of the window to open it) shows the command line used:
    proploader -r -I /opt/simpleide/parallax/propeller-load/ -b activityboard -p /dev/ttyS0 Welcome.elf
    Opening file 'Welcome.elf'
    ERROR: Download failed: -1
    

    See -b activityboard.
    jmg wrote: »
    If I change board to RCFAST, thinking that makes fewest assumptions, that gives a brief flash on TX and RX LED, so it seems some reply was given, but the error messages are very terse.

    No, all configuration files are using the default values for the fast loader!

    FYI, I have opened this bug:
    https://github.com/parallaxinc/SimpleIDE/issues/279
  • Thank you for the informative exchange of ideas and suggestions.

    You guys are experts in the coding and problem solving field...I am a simple user who wants to get a project designed and built as easily as possible. That is why:

    I was hoping and expecting that there was a method that I, as a shaky "C" programmer, could insert in my SimpleIDE project to by-pass the slow Propeller "mount SD card" code so that the Propeller could read the SD memory on the Propeller Activity Board and clock words out up to 500kHz. Once that works...the hardware would be transferred to a new printed circuit board and be inserted in the plasma cutter control box.

    The depth of the memory was scaled back to a few tens of mega words.

    It appeared that there was a way to use two COGs and their memory to read 512 word pages in a ping-pong fashion then output the words at a rate that I select for the plasma cutting application.

    The suggestion was that I can write "spin" or some other language code to accomplish this and it should work perfectly well. The problem is that I cannot write that code...I have enough trouble just writing "C" in SimpleIDE. I don't have the experience you folks have. So, I was hoping to receive chunks of "C" code or other code that I could insert into my "C" code and solve the problem.

    I was also hoping that some one might have a Propeller Activity Board handy and could verify the code before sending it on to me. Just hoping!

    Sincerely,

    Discovery
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